Ministers should stop pandering to militant secularists

The Christian faith has made a tremendous contribution to modern life.

Church congregations from Dursley in Gloucestershire celebrate Easter Sunday in the open air, 2000Photo: Adrian Sherratt/Alamy

6:00AM BST 04 Apr 2010

SIR – It is good to see some Anglican bishops putting their heads above their cathedral parapets. They are right to be concerned about the Government’s continuing marginalisation of Britain’s Judeo-Christian heritage, culture, and traditions. Our nation pulls up these deep roots at its own peril.

While I acknowledge that Britain is now home to people of many faiths and of none, this should not absolve the manifest contribution the Christian faith has made, and continues to make, to the arts, science, politics, social entrepreneurship, and to our nation's overall well-being. Ministers should stop pandering to vocal militant atheists, fundamentalist secularists, and the politically correct brigade, and ensure that those of faith and no faith are treating equally.

The challenge for ministers, and the courts, is to ensure that the equal rights of the majority are not usurped by special rights for a minority.

Mark Pritchard MP (Con) London SW1

SIR – Last Sunday the centre of Lewes was given over to the first of four plays for Holy Week, each presenting an episode from Christ’s Passion.

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As a member of the cast, my strongest impression as we drew people from their Sunday shopping was one of great warmth. The hundreds of faces who watched the cast as we told the story of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem were filled not with contempt or disrespect, but with rapt attention and goodwill.

Our bishops are right to voice their concerns, but had they been in Lewes they would not have seen a faith under threat. Easter gives everyone the chance to share in a narrative which has the power to entertain, inspire and transform, and as long as this is true our bishops have no cause to fear anyone or anything – least of all the uniform policy of an NHS Trust.

Peter Shears Lewes, East Sussex

SIR – Lord Carey and his fellow Anglicans must surely be aware that they are singled out for such hostility from the Government because they are thought to be an easy target.

The atheist establishment regards all faiths with contempt but is afraid of attacking particular minorities. Like a classroom teacher who singles out the quiet pupil for his anger and frustration because he is afraid of the classroom bully, Labour exhibits hostility to Christians because they are afraid of being open about their contempt for all faiths.

Andrew Rome Bedford

SIR – The reason that jewellery – including rings, necklaces and bracelets – are not to be worn is to prevent the spread of infection and to ensure the physical safety of the patient.

With MRSA and C. difficile barely under control, hand washing and general cleanliness is essential. Jewellery can harbour germs and the damage that it can do to the delicate skin of patients needs to be seen to be believed.

Necklaces, as well as harbouring germs, can become entangled in patients’ hair, while procedures are carried out. The potential for damage for vulnerable patients is obvious.

For many nurses a solution has long been a nappy pin, secured to the inside of a pocket, keeping cherished items safe while on duty.

Mrs Chaplin’s religious fervour may well be commendable, but Christians are not required to wear an outward sign of their commitment, and sentimentality should not outweigh professional responsibility.

Sheila Gilson Clacton-on-Sea, Essex

Tories are defeating Labour by offering substance, not spin

SIR – Lord Mandelson complained last week that George Osborne has managed to deceive virtually the whole of British industry with his policy on National Insurance.

Is that envy, as even Lord Mandelson, a past master of spin, has been unable to achieve such an astonishing feat?

Or is it perhaps frustration at realising that truth has been more persuasive than deception?

Stanley Brodie QC Dalrymple, Ayrshire

SIR – Tony Blair’s reappearance in active campaigning last week marked a new level of shamelessness, even for him.

Labour’s achievements under his leadership include: the politicisation of the judiciary, police and civil service; a crumbling health service where new funding has been wasted on (unnecessary) higher pay; state education crippled by years of socialist dogma and political interference; the utter contempt for parliamentary democracy; uncontrolled immigration; a debt-fuelled spending spree; the destruction of occupational pension schemes; and millions of additional state dependants.

Even leaving aside questionable foreign wars, I wonder how Mr Blair has the nerve to appear in public at all.

Peter Crawford Sheffield

SIR – The nightmare scenario painted by Matthew d’Ancona (Comment, March 28) that Gordon Brown might yet win the general election should indeed be a wake-up call to every elector who shudders at the thought. It is not too late to take preventive measures.

All Conservative supporters, and those who are still floating voters, should contact their local Conservative office now and offer whatever help they can give. Many hands make lighter work of delivering leaflets, knocking on doors and making phone calls. Such assistance is in a very good cause.

Pamela Westland Braintree, Essex

SIR – Matthew D’Ancona’s all-too-possible nightmare reminds me of the Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus, who said that: “in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.”

Politicians have contempt for us. Their deceit give them a sense of ascendancy: they know something we don’t and we fail to do anything about it.

The only way of gaining their respect – if, indeed, the respect of such people is to be desired – is by expressing our contempt by withholding the vote from party candidates.

The only message they’ll ever respect will be the absence of any vote at all, and with it the excuse to behave as though they have a democratic mandate.

In voting for them we deserve what we get.

David Thomas Ystradowen, Carmarthenshire

SIR – The political parties appear to accept the need for cuts but are arguing about timing, not the nature of cuts. Nowhere is there any sign of the gold-plated, copper-bottomed town hall salaries and pensions being trimmed, or the mountains of waste in the unproductive public sector being weeded.

The politicians seem determined to carry on their own brazen self-indulgence regardless, even though they are our elected servants and we don’t owe them a living.

Real change is badly needed, not the obverse of the same coin. If voters stay at home or support independents, the parties have only themselves to blame.

John Gouriet Dilton Marsh, Wiltshire

Gordon Brown’s gold sale should be reversed

SIR – When Gordon Brown was Chancellor he sold Britain’s gold reserves – a financial misjudgement and disaster.

The Conservatives are keen to remind everyone of Mr Brown’s mistake. But what about the future of British reserves? The billionaire investor Jim Slater is just one of the City financiers who believe gold could rise to $2000 an ounce in coming years, largely as a result of inflation hurting the US dollar.

The outlook for all Western currencies is dire. Sterling needs to be backed by hard assets, not paper.

Timothy Stroud Salisbury, Wiltshire

SIR – Heaven help any company that gives Gordon Brown a directorship after his defeat.

Mr Brown’s sale of our gold and his belief that current consumption is “investment”, so long as it is spent by him, should cause shareholders to dump their shares within minutes.

Maurice Taylor Bristol

Unite’s pointless strike

SIR – Do the vast majority of BA’s cabin crew realise they are being used? The ex-TGWU leadership of Unite see this high profile dispute as their “cause celebre” to establish their credentials to lead the union going forward.

Unfortunately, what they don’t seem to recognise is that to lead Britain’s largest union successfully a class act is required, with high-level intellect and charisma.

I do not doubt that there is valid discontent amongst the cabin staff and that Willie Walsh and his senior management could, on reflection, have handled the negotiations slightly differently. However, we all know the halcyon days of high cost carriers are over.

Tony Pascoe Rugby

Royal generosity

SIR – Park House, where Earl Spencer (Profile, March 28) spent most of his early years, is not in London but in the grounds of Sandringham, and was initially leased to his grandparnets, Lord and Lady Farmoy as a special concession because of their close friendship with George VI and his Queen.

Consequently, Charles Spencer was entertained by the Royal Family as a child, and was even appointed page of honour to the present Queen from 1977-79.

However, any recognition of such exceptional royal favours was entirely absent from his 1997 funeral oration in Westminster Abbey.

Jennifer Miller London SW15

Contraceptives given to 14-year olds

SIR – It is not just the Children, Schools and Families Bill that undermines the responsibility of parents for children’s upbringing (Letters, March 28).

The C Card scheme, which provides children as young as 14 with “sexual health” advice and a key fob entitling them to free condoms, is equally subversive both of the law and of the role of parents in bringing up children in accordance with their family values.

The scheme is advertised to children as a free, confidential service. It is not only undermining parental authority, but also turning a blind eye to underage sex. If society believes that children under 16 have the capacity to consent to sexual intercourse, then the law should be changed by open and transparent debate, and not by stealth.

Vivien Stoddart Milford Haven, Dyfed

SIR – As a parent and an editor of a Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education programme, Alive to the World, I entirely endorse the opinions of Norman Wells and his co-signatories (Letters, March 28).

Aside from the bill’s injustice, its intrusive nature, and its attack on freedom of conscience, the Government’s claimed intention of reducing teenage pregnancy is doomed to failure.

SIR – Simon Heffer (Comment, March 28) writes that Sir WIlliam Walton “sponged for most of his life off aristocratic 'patrons’, in the manner of an 18th-century court musician”.

The notion that composers such as Bach and Haydn were spongers is strange. They were paid to do a job of work – just like architects, gardeners and servants – and if they failed to deliver, they got the sack.

S. R. Archer Kettering, Northamptonshire

Matt Smith’s tweed

SIR – It is thought that the use of Harris Tweed by the new Doctor Who, Matt Smith, will revitalise demand for the Scottish cloth.

I’m hoping that David Cameron will similarly give a boost to necktie manufacturers, once he gives up his preference for casual chic.